Ali's Redemption
by Hannah Ellery-Ashby
Summary: Alison DiLaurentis: A cold hearted, merciless, manipulative bitch. But what if she was being manipulated too? This is the story of Ali's recovery after deciding not to kill the Liars while struggling to maintain a flawless facade.
1. Chapter 1 (Ali's POV)

Once upon a time there were two beautiful girls. But one was insane. That one was me.

I've had years of therapy at the Preserve. They know what my parents say I did. What I did do. How I killed my sister.

Maria, my nurse at the Preserve, tells me to remember my past but not have it make it weigh me down.

So do I really have to do this?

My thoughts are muddled as I open the car door. "Let's go, bitches!" I cry, and start the ignition. They all talk excitedly. Our first Poconos trip since seventh grade. My first trip with them, ever.

The note is in my back pocket. Melissa's in the trunk. Do I have to do this? But I don't see how there's any going back now.

I remember the feeling of Emily's lips on mine. Spencer's laugh as we danced at the club. Hana's gloating smile when she realized she was queen bee again, with me. How if I do this, I'll kill my last sister. Because Spencer's my sister too. My half sister, anyways. These girls, even Aria, could be my best friends.

They rescued me from the fire I created, without even knowing who I was. They've foiled all of my other plans...what if they foil this one, too? If I confess now- that I killed my sister in 7th grade, I'll probably be in jail for the rest of my life. Maybe I could continue living this lie. It would work. But not with thinking I knew who killed Ian and Jenna. That I think she's on the loose, completely unhinged and insane, like I would be if I did this. Insane people don't worry about being insane. Right?

We pull up in the driveway. My twin's face flashes in front of my face. Her words echo in my mind. "The only thing I've ever wanted is a sister." I cut the engine and burst into tears. Aria pears over the seat. "Ali? What's wrong?"

"Courtney. It's just..we went here all the time when we were kids." I lie.

"Oh, Ali," Emily reaches over and grabs my hand. "Maybe we shouldn't have our sleepover here. It does bring up too many sad memories."

The other girls nod earnestly. "Yeah," I say. "Maybe your barn, Spence? We could have the sleepover we never had."

Maria told me to confront the ghosts of my past. This time, when we have our sleepover, no one's going to die.

And if anyone does, I'm turning myself in. These girls have became too much to me. I can't kill them. It's not their fault. It was just fate. Maybe it was a test.


	2. Chapter 2 (Melissa's POV)

Melissa Hastings walked down the stairs the next morning, rubbing her forehead. She had a _monster _headache. Maybe she'd drank too much last night- but on second thought, she couldn't remember anything more than the high school Valentine's Day party her little sister, Spencer had attended that she'd chaperoned.

Then it clicked. Courtney. Alison DiLaurentis. She'd drugged her. She'd been going to kill her!

Alison was sitting in the pantry with her sister Spencer. "Hey," she said to Spencer, "mind if I borrow Courtney for a sec?"

Spencer and "Courtney" exchanged nervous looks. Spencer looked like she was about to stop me but "Courtney" touched Spencer's hand lightly and whispered "It'll be okay." We walked outside.

"Courtney DiLaurentis," Melissa said haughtily.

"I think you mean _Ali._" "Courtney" said back, matching Melissa's tone.

"Whatever your name is. I remember what you did last night, and I'm going to tell Spencer." Melissa threatened.

"Oh, but you won't." "Courtney" crossed her feet calmly and confidently.

"Actually, I will." Melissa glared at "Courtney".

Ali reached into her purse and grabbed two things. She waved them in front of Melissa's face. Melissa recognized them instantly - the _You're dead, bitch _ photo and the Preserve pamphlet. "They won't believe you. Spencer already thinks her sister's a killer. Did you see how nervous she looked when you wanted to talk to me?"

"She should know she's got the wrong sister." Melissa glared at her.

Spencer stepped outside. "Guys? Is everything okay?"

"Yes," "Courtney" smiled in a saccharine manner and skipped up the steps. "Just peachy. Really, Melissa, you should be ashamed, picking on someone five years younger than you."

Melissa walked away, fuming.


	3. Chapter 3 (Ali's POV)

The next Monday, me, Spencer Hastings, Aria Montgomery, Emily Feilds and Hana Marin walked the halls in an intimidating line. We sat down in the alcove and started discussing our plans for the afternoon when all of a sudden, Hana, Spencer, Aria and Emily's phones beeped. They looked at their screens almost reflexively and their screens paled.

"What?" I asked. "Has Billy been cleared?"

"It's nothing," Aria said, but just the next moment my phone beeped.

_I know what you did in 7th grade - A. PS: Hope you don't mind identity theft... But I know you do._

"I have to use the bathroom." I stood up. I needed some time to digest this. Could it be Melissa? Or...but no. It couldn't be. I refused to even imagine the possibility. She was gone, no longer a part of my life. As good as dead. As good as _Courtney._

__"Wait, Ali!" Em called out. "Are you getting them too?"

Aria shot Emily a glare. "Am I getting what?" I asked, turning around curiously.

"Notes from someone calling themselves A. I mean, I know you got that one saying to go to the woods, but..." Hana trailed off nervously.

"You're getting them too." I stated. It wasn't a question. I showed them my screen. Hana showed me hers.

_I'm back, bitches. And I'm fabulous- A_

__"Wait, what did you do?" Hana asked after looking at the text on the screen.

"We all have things we don't want to share, Han." Emily shot Hana a look.

"It was something that happened at the Preserve." I lied, stuffing my phone in my bag. "But that's all over now."

We walked to class, our secrets weighing us down.

* * *

"Class," our teacher announced, "We have a new student. Her name is Cristal Waire."

Panic seized in my chest. She was back. She was here. She was going to hurt me like she used to. I frantically started writing in my notebook.

"Ali!" Hana prodded me in the side.

"I know," I answered quietly. "Iris." I slid my notebook over to her. I'd reaaranged the letters in Iris's full name - Iris Clearwater - and ended up with this name. Cristal Waire. This was the alias - along with mine, Laura St. DeLions - that we'd been planning on using if we started over somewhere else.

And start over Iris had.

She smiled at me as if she knew exactly what I was thinking and slid into the empty seat next to me. Hana gripped my hand under the table nervously.

"I can't help but think I've seen you before," Iris smirked. "Maybe at the P-"

I painted on my frostiest, bitchiest smile and turned it on her full force. "Crystal Ware, huh? Like glassware? Did your mom name you after what caused her to get drunk and have sex with the first guy she met?" I widened my eyes.

Iris glowered at me and turned away.

_So, readers. What do you think of this? Will Alison revert to her old, evil self now that a ghost from her past is back in town? Or will she stay strong?_


	4. Chapter 4 (Ali's POV)

At lunch, we all walked to the cafeteria. Hana had been trying to get me to talk about Iris, but I'd deflected her and told her "Not now."

When we got to the cafeteria, I got a nasty little surprise. Cristal - or should I say Iris- had become Naomi, Riley and Kate's pet project. Guess I was replaceable.

"You girls can go to the table. I have some things to say to these _bitches." _They didn't know, and had to keep under the impression, that I hated Naomi and Riley for something that they did to me. But in reality, they were the girls who had been my friends since pre-K. It was really unfortunate that Hana and the others disliked them. Hana especially. Because she could be a popular girl. I saw Iris get up to go to the bathroom. This was my chance.

"What do you want with us?" Naomi glowered at me as I walked over to the table.

I plunked my bag on the floor and sat down, leaning forward and whispering so that others couldn't hear. "I can't believe what Hana did. She's such a bitch. But I guess you all already knew that, especially Kate. Fake tickets to a fashion show and then humiliating you in front of the whole school? I can't believe I ever thought she was even remotely cool. We need to take her _down_." Of course, my plan was to eventually make Hana and the three to come around to liking each other, but until then I had to be a double agent.

"Wait, Hana?" Kate dropped her fork into her salad. "You weren't involved?"

"I bet she made you think that," I said. Riley, Naomi and Kate nodded. "No, I had no clue. She must've snuck into Kate's room while we were asleep and stolen the letters. By the way, I loved your matching dresses Saturday. Adorbs." I smiled sweetly, they smiled back, and just like that they were under my thumb again. _Another problem solved by Ali D. _I smirked. I knew my sister had stolen that from me.

"Aw, C, you looked way better than us," Riley smiled.

"Maybe," I said playfully. "But there's something more serious I need to tell you girls about. You know how I told you girls I had an eating disorder?" That had been my explanation for why I'd never gone to a normal school. "It was really bad. That's why I got sent to the Preserve. But that girl Cristal? She was there too when I was there- and not just for an eating disorder. She's totally unhinged. I think she has Multiple Personality Disorder or something. I don't know why they let her out. Her name's not even Cristal. It's Iris Clearwater. Or at least that's what she told me it was."

"Wait," Kate held up a finger. "If you rearrange the letters, you get her name. She's telling you guys the truth."

Naomi, Kate, and Riley all looked at each other and me.

Iris walked over. Her expression soured when she saw me sitting in "her" seat. "Hey guys, what's going on?"

Naomi stood up and shoved her chair under the table. "Go away, psycho."

Iris looked nervous. "I'm not crazy. Was that what she told you?"

"Yes you are, _Iris," _Riley glared at her. "How dare you lie to us!"

I smirked a little. They'd believed me. I knew they'd alienate her after what Hana told me they'd done to her when an article about her at the Preserve appeared. Well, actually that had been partly my (and Iris's) doing, but I preferred not to think about that.

"Sorry, but we're not friends with psychos. Try Hana Psycho Marin." Kate smirked. "Or Skidz over there." She pointed at Mike.

"Fine," Iris swung her backpack over her shoulder. "But you girls don't know what you're missing." She sashayed off.

_Thoughts? Do you think Ali should reveal her true identity to Naomi, Riley and Kate (Especially Naomi and Riley, since they were BFFs before Courtney stole her life) or do you think they wouldn't believe her and would treat her like they treated Iris? Also, what do you think of the cover? Here's the full sized version._


	5. Chapter 5

After I ate lunch, I walked over to the alcove to think. Naomi, Riley and Kate thought Iris was crazy - which was good, because she was. But my telling them that the prank had all been Hanna's doing would make them hate her even more. Maybe Hanna could apologize to them? Fat chance of _that _happening. She was way too proud for that.

"Hello, Alison," A voice floated through the alcove. I looked up, hoping it was one of the Liars. But it wasn't. It was Iris.

I felt a shiver of fear and remembered the last time we'd been alone, but made my tone match hers. I could play the "real name" card, too. "Hello, Iris."

She sat down next to me and plunked her bag on the floor. "Well, now we're past the fact that we both know who we are, I think it's time we talked. I haven't spoken to you in ages."

She spoke as if we were best friends just reunited. It was true that she had been my best friend - once. Before...

"Why did you come here?" I spoke through my teeth. She had no business invading my world.

"I wanted to make you realize whose side you're really on," She looked me in the eye. "Are you seriously friends with those girls who created the ability for your sister to steal your life?"

"It's not their fault," I choked out.

"Oh, really," Iris said, her voice laden with sarcasm.

"Really," I said, my voice shaking a little. "If they hadn't come along, she would have gotten another opportunity. She would have done _anything _to escape the Preserve."

"Perhaps even what you did," I knew what Iris was doing. She was holding my secret over my head, trying to get me to snap. She had always been what won me over. She was like a voice in my ear, telling me that what I was doing was OK, no, right.

Iris grabbed my wrist. "We can be unstoppable, Ali."

Suddenly, the memory of when she'd last done that flashed through my mind. "No. I don't want to be A with you. You're insane."

Iris let out a low chuckle as she swung her bag back over her shoulder. "So are you, Alison Day-DiLaurentis. We're all mad in our own way," She quoted a Natasha Bedingfield song.

I knew she couldn't hurt me, not here, with so many adults around. In a weird way, my house was the least safe place, even though I was supposed to be protected there.

"I won't go back," I said confidently. "What I was doing was wrong."

"Right," Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "You will. If you don't, it will be worse than last time." Her eyes trailed down to my arm, warning me.

I ran away, fear gripping me like an ice-cold hand, until I reached the bathroom. I crouched down on the toilet, head in my hands and allowed myself to relieve the event I'd been suppressing for so long.

_FLASHBACK_

It was a cold winter day, and I'd been growing more and more wary of Iris. She just seemed...unhinged. Not like I wasn't. But she seemed more unhinged than me. She laughed confidently as she opened up the _People _article about Hanna. "Everyone will hate her now," she cried gleefully. "And now I can dump her, and she'll be miserable."

I held up a finger, signaling her to wait. "Are you sure this is the right thing to do, Iris?"

She skipped down a lane, beckoning me to follow, seeming gleeful. "These bitches are getting what they deserve."

"They never did anything to you," I countered.

"But they did something to _you," _she reminded me firmly. "They let your sister steal your life."

"I...don't want to do this anymore." I sank down against the wall. "Killing Courtney has upset me enough!"

She stood in front of me. "You have to. There's no out now. Remember, we had our deal. You'd kill the girls, and I'd dispose of anyone who got in the way of our plans."

"No." I stood up, knees shaking. "I won't. I can't."

"You can," She stood close. "You will."

I felt a pinch on my wrist and jolted. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure you continue with our plan." She drew whatever the thing was and my wrist stung and bled.

"You're cutting me!" I said, horrified.

"Yes," she said, and with a devilish smile jolted the razor blade upward suddenly, making my wrist hurt more than words ever could describe. She stood back and smiled. "You will."

Tears were streaming down my face. I had to get medical help, or else I'd bleed to death. "Fine," I whimpered. "Just...don't do that ever again."

I jolted back to present at the sound of someone knocking on the door. "Ali?" Emily's concerned voice cried out. "Are you in there?"

I realized I was crying. "Coming, Em," I called back and strode out of the door. I walked to the sink and rolled up my sleeves to wash my hand.

"Ali, what's on your wrist?" Emily asked, concerned.

"Easy, Killer, it's just a little cut I got once," I smiled and channelled Alison DiLaurentis, confident queen bee.  
Then I strode out of the bathroom.


End file.
